al-in-chgo's definitions
Verschlusspanik (fair-SCHLOOSE-pah-neek) is a German word that literally means "closing panic." It refers to the rush of new investors (and new capital) into consumer investments like mutual funds that occurs when the sponsoring financial house announces that its fund will no longer accept new accounts beyond a certain date. That "last-minute" stampede is due to Verschlusspanik on the part of potential investors who do not want to be shut out of the fund.
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"Go figure -- Fund XYZ announces that it won't open any new accounts past the end of this month, and all of a sudden there's a huge influx of new investors and their money."
"That's called 'Verschlusspanik'. It often happens when there's a deadline for new accounts imposed."
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"Go figure -- Fund XYZ announces that it won't open any new accounts past the end of this month, and all of a sudden there's a huge influx of new investors and their money."
"That's called 'Verschlusspanik'. It often happens when there's a deadline for new accounts imposed."
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by al-in-chgo March 24, 2010
Get the Verschlusspanikmug. Abandoned prison restroom with long trough-style urinal off a low-traffic area, as described in John Cheever's 1977 novel FALCONER. To quote the author, this is where the inmates went after dinner "to fuck themselves." Themselves but not each other -- there were unwritten rules. Looking at other penises was okay, but not into another man's eyes. Touching another man was not allowed, except for the shoulder. A grim place, not gay by any definition, and certainly not the fantasy one-for-all tearoom scenes depicted in gay porn videos.
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Since The Valley in Cheever's award-winning novel Falconer was located on an upper floor, the origin of its name was obscure. Perhaps the name was coined to reference the trench- or trough-shaped nature of the elderly urinal itself.
-- "Where's Harry?"
-- "He went to The Valley after dinner."
-- 'When do you think he'll be back in our wing?"
-- "As late as possible, if I know Harry."
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-- "Where's Harry?"
-- "He went to The Valley after dinner."
-- 'When do you think he'll be back in our wing?"
-- "As late as possible, if I know Harry."
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by al-in-chgo February 25, 2010
Get the The Valleymug. Judgment City is that part of town where all the buildings are of medium height, usually located near expressways, and built between the early Sixties and the mid-Eighties. Its style is some variation on International Style as exemplified by the almost inevitable flat roofs with HVAC equipment forming a "sore thumb" addendum to the roof lines. Judgment City gets its name from the sterile corporate complex that is the setting for most of the plot of Albert Brooks' satiric comedy DEFENDING YOUR LIFE.
Beige is the predominant theme of Judgment City -- beige for the cast-concrete slabs that form some buildings, most bridges, and practically all covered parking structures attached to those buildings that no longer are surrounded by enormous asphalt parking lots. Beige also shows up in more overtly pseudo-sophisticated building techniques like pebbled walls (usually more concrete but with a deliberate random design), or the vertical walls with pretend fluting that are made of a whiter shade of concrete.
Judgment City areas generally push retail and housing to its edges because in these neo-downtowns, rents are too expensive to support low-rise concerns.
If, however, you come across a newer area that is not flat-roofed and beige, but equally corporate with such building features as monopitch or steepled roofs, ziggurat-edged walls and exposed structural elements like gray PPG plate glass or red girders, you've gone beyond Modern into Post-Modern: Legoland. (See "Legoland".)
Beige is the predominant theme of Judgment City -- beige for the cast-concrete slabs that form some buildings, most bridges, and practically all covered parking structures attached to those buildings that no longer are surrounded by enormous asphalt parking lots. Beige also shows up in more overtly pseudo-sophisticated building techniques like pebbled walls (usually more concrete but with a deliberate random design), or the vertical walls with pretend fluting that are made of a whiter shade of concrete.
Judgment City areas generally push retail and housing to its edges because in these neo-downtowns, rents are too expensive to support low-rise concerns.
If, however, you come across a newer area that is not flat-roofed and beige, but equally corporate with such building features as monopitch or steepled roofs, ziggurat-edged walls and exposed structural elements like gray PPG plate glass or red girders, you've gone beyond Modern into Post-Modern: Legoland. (See "Legoland".)
-- Recall that in Albert Brooks' movie DEFENDING YOUR LIFE, the newer retail outlets in Judgment City, like nail salons or frozen-yogurt shops, were going up on the edge of town.
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by al-in-chgo June 19, 2011
Get the Judgment Citymug. A sudden but violent outburst of a person shouting, screaming recriminations and (possibly) wailing, generally short-lived but shocking.
"Hissy fit" used to describe an adult tantrum but now has become an equal opportunity description, young or old, male or female. What they all have in common is no matter how severe the (alleged) offense, there is always some wounded pride involved, and usually an audience of bystanders along with the culprit who allegedly triggered the hissy.
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"Hissy fit" used to describe an adult tantrum but now has become an equal opportunity description, young or old, male or female. What they all have in common is no matter how severe the (alleged) offense, there is always some wounded pride involved, and usually an audience of bystanders along with the culprit who allegedly triggered the hissy.
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-- "When I told Sarah she couldn't have the doll, she broke down and pitched a major hissy fit. Right there in the toy department at Target!"
--"So when Joe got fired, all he did was throw a hissy fit out in the hall? Terrible. REAL men used to slug each other."
--"She freaked! She had a hissy! She thinks you're the cat's meow." 'Farmer Ted' (Anthony Michael Hall) in movie SIXTEEN CANDLES (1984), describing the Molly Ringwald character's sudden infatuation with a boy two years her senior.
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--"So when Joe got fired, all he did was throw a hissy fit out in the hall? Terrible. REAL men used to slug each other."
--"She freaked! She had a hissy! She thinks you're the cat's meow." 'Farmer Ted' (Anthony Michael Hall) in movie SIXTEEN CANDLES (1984), describing the Molly Ringwald character's sudden infatuation with a boy two years her senior.
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by al-in-chgo February 25, 2010
Get the hissy fitmug. Typesetter's name for a "regular" (pre-computer-era) slash mark (/) that associates related terms. On computer QWERTY keyboards, commonly found to the right of the key for a period. The virgule key + shift indicates a question mark.
by al-in-chgo March 3, 2010
Get the virgulemug. Also "dogcock" or "dogscock." British journalese for an exclamation mark (!) due to the visual similarity. Considered vulgar but widely used within the industry.
Mentioned in Lynn Truss's book EATS, SHOOTS AND LEAVES.
Mentioned in Lynn Truss's book EATS, SHOOTS AND LEAVES.
by al-in-chgo March 18, 2011
Get the Dog's Cockmug. Casual way to say "penis." Not considered as vulgar as "cock," "prick," or "dick," almost cute in fact, but definitely not standard. Originally "pecker" was a Southern (USA) usage, but social mobility and innumerable HBO comic roasts have broadened its range.
"I've got Hubert's pecker in my pocket." Said by 1960s US President Lyndon Baines Johnson of his VP Hubert Humphrey, meaning (metaphorically) that Hubert was his bitch politically.
"I'd rather cut my pecker off." Said by same LBJ when told by his physician he had to stop smoking immediately.
"I'd rather cut my pecker off." Said by same LBJ when told by his physician he had to stop smoking immediately.
by al-in-chgo July 13, 2012
Get the peckermug.